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The Wilmot Proviso
This aimed to outlaw slavery in the new territories acquired from Mexico. The bill was passed in the House of Representatives but it was defeated in the Senate thus causing a division in Congress. This event led to the creation of the Free-Soil Party, which was against slavery. -
Compromise of 1850
The Compromise of 1850 was a series of congressional laws that were intended to settle the major disagreements between free states and slave states. To please the North, California would be admitted as a free state and the slave trade in Washington D.C. would be abolished. For the South, slavery would be allowed in the territories acquired from the war with Mexico, and the Fugitive Slave Act would also be passed. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
A law in 1854 that established the territories of Kansas and Nebraska and gave their residents the choice to allow slavery. They settled the slavery issues using popular sovereignty. This act later turned Kansas into a battleground. -
"Bleeding Kansas"
John Brown was an extreme abolitionist. To avenge the Sack of Lawrence, he and seven other men murdered five proslavery neighbors. Civil War then broke out and continued for three years. -
Caning of Sumner
Charles Sumner delivered a speech that attaced the proslavery forces that were fighting in Kansas. Sumner also made fun of A.P. Butler, who was a senator from South Carolina. Preston Brooks later attacked Sumner to defend Butler. -
Dred Scott v. Sandford
Dred Scott was a slave from Missouri. His owner took him to live in territories where slavery was illegal. After his owner's death, Dred Scott sued for his freedom. His case reached the Supreme Court in 1856, and Roger B. Taney answered it. He told Dred Scott that he couldn't even sue because he was slave.He also told him that he was just property. -
Harpers Ferry
John Brown, who had killed five people three years before this event, wanted to start a slave rebellion and capture the U.S. Arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia. John Brown and his eighteen men captured Harpers Ferry and sent word out to the slaves to assist them in the battle. But no help was to come. -
The Election of 1860
Lincoln and Beckinridge were the two main candidates in this election. They had the most extreme views on slavery. Lincoln won the election and his inaguration led to the secession of the South.
